COLUMBUS, Ohio — With just three days left until Ohio experiences the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, Gov. Mike DeWine held a press conference Friday morning “to discuss statewide preparations.”
“There’s no way around the fact that there will be incredibly heavy traffic and very large crowds," Gov. DeWine said. "Consequently, some government services will be stressed. But at this time, I made the decision not to yet activate the Ohio National Guard.”
He said the Guard will be prepared, however, just in case they are needed.
"I am announcing, however, that we are activating the Emergency Operation Center, beginning on Sunday running at least through Tuesday," he said.
This includes staffing with representatives from the following agencies:
- Emergency Management Agency
- Ohio Department of Transportation
- Ohio Department of Natural Resources
- Ohio Department of Health, state Fire Marshals Office
- Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services
- Ohio Department of Administrative Services
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Ohio State Highway Patrol
“These agencies will be available to support local communities with whatever emergency support they might need," Gov. DeWine said.
You can watch the full press conference with Gov. DeWine in the video below:
He added that teams will be at the Emergency Operation Center to monitor traffic in real-time, and "will be in regular contact with local officials." Those teams will also be ready to immediately organize resources and offer other assistance.
“Despite all our cautions, this is not gloom and doom. This should be a fun day, an interesting day, for people and we just think we want everybody to have a good time. That’s what our goal is.”
Officials who joined Gov. DeWine for the eclipse prep press conference included:
- Colonel Charles Jones, Ohio State Highway Patrol
- Director Sima Merick, Ohio Emergency Management Agency
- Director Jack Marchbanks, Ohio Department of Transportation
- Director Mary Mertz, Ohio Department of Natural Resources
It comes as the state is expected to see an influx in visitors who are coming to experience the historic moment -- which could mean very heavy traffic throughout Ohio.
“I kind of equate this to a fireworks show," Matt Bruning of ODOT said during our eclipse special, which streamed Thursday night with 3News' Betsy Kling and Jay Crawford. "Everybody kind of trickles in and then the grand finale goes off and everyone gets in their cars at the same time and leaves. This is totally different than any other event you could even conceive. The 2016 RNC was a big deal, but that was confined to Cleveland. We’ve had World Series, we’ve had All-Star games, we’ve had other big events -- but they’ve been confined to a city. This is literally multiple counties -- tens of thousands of square miles of people all doing the same thing at the same time and then wanting to leave that same thing at the same time. That’s where we’re really concerned about having the big traffic congestion. That’s what we’ve heard from other states that experienced 2017 totality, is that traffic will be much, much worse than before.”
RELATED: WATCH LIVE | April 8 solar eclipse in Northeast Ohio: Special coverage starts at 2 p.m. Monday
SOLAR ECLIPSE TIMES NEAR YOU
While the eclipse times will vary based on your location, here's a look at when you can expect the excitement to unfold in Akron and Cleveland.
AKRON
- Partial eclipse begins: 1:59:09 p.m.
- Totality begins: 3:14:13 p.m.
- Maximum eclipse: 3:15:38 p.m.
- Totality ends: 3:17:02 p.m.
- Partial eclipse ends: 4:29:05 p.m.
CLEVELAND
- Partial eclipse begins: 1:59:22 p.m.
- Totality begins: 3:13:45 p.m.
- Maximum eclipse: 3:15:40 p.m.
- Totality ends: 3:17:35 p.m.
- Partial eclipse ends: 4:29 p.m.
If you're elsewhere in Northeast Ohio, we've complied this list of eclipse times with dozens of different communities throughout the region.